16 March 2006

heh... i'm a couple hrs early


well well well kids... by the time you're reading this, it's st. patrick's day, the one day of the year we all get to be irish.


i don't know what your plans are for the day, but i know mine don't include making corned beef and cabbage. it's not irish! if you want to have an authentic irish dinner, i suggest having a liquid meal of several pints of guinness. :)


mom's in a rehab hospital out in orange now. she's doing a lot better. she's getting occupational and physical therapy, and i'm very impressed with the facility and its staff. thanks for all the good thoughts, gentle readers. it's been a tough couple weeks for all of us, but she's out of the woods now and your support has meant the world to me.

anyhoo, i'll write more later. after i've had my *authentic* irish dinner. *snort*

12 March 2006

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


after a 21 month long absence, they're back!

i'm cooking a big meal for the occasion, lasagne alla napoletana. lotta steps involved in making it, but omg, it's sooooo worth it.

so, w/o further ado:

ragu napoletano


¼ c olive oil
1 lb boneless pork shoulder, cut into chunks
1 lb beef chuck, cut into chunks
salt and pepper
1 red onion, finely chopped
¾ c dry red wine
2 28 oz cans san marzano tomatoes, with their juices, passed thru a food mill
8 oz sweet italian sausage
pinch hot red pepper flakes


in large dutch oven, heat olive oik over medium heat till smoking. season the pork and beef with salt and pepper and sear in batches till dark golden brown. transfer to a plate.

add the onion to the pot and saute, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to loosen any brown bits, until golden brown and very soft, about 10mins. add the wine and browned meat chunks, tomatoes, sausages and red pepper flakes and bring just to a boil. reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2½ to 3 hrs. remove from heat, remove the meats and sausages, and set aside. adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and allow to cool.

polpette alla napoletana

3 c day old bread, cut into 1" cubes
1¼ lb ground beef
3 eggs, beaten
3 cloves garlic, minced
¾ c freshly grated pecorino romano
¼ c finely chopped italian parsley
¼ c pignolias, toasted
½ t salt
½ t pepper
¼ c olive oil

in a shallow bowl, soak the bread cubes in water to cover for 20 mins. drain the bread cubes ans squeeze out the excess moisture.
in a large bowl, combine the beef, bread, eggs, pecorino, parsley, pine nuts, garlic, salt and pepper and mix until just blended. with wet hands, form the mixture into 12-15 large meatballs.
in a large, heavy bottomed skillet, heat the olive oil over med-hi heat until almost smoking. add the meatballs, working in batches, and cook, turning occasionally, until deep golden brown on all sides, about 10 mins per batch.

lasagne alla napoletana

1 lb dried lasagna, cooked and cooled enough to handle
2 T olive oil
RAGU NAPOLETANO, sausages sliced ¼-½" thick, meats reserved for another use
3 c ricotta (whole milk please!)
POLPETTE, cut in half
1 c freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
1 lb mozzarella di bufala campagna, cut into ½" dice
preheat oven to 350°. assemble lasagne in 9x13x4" dish. spread ½ c ragu over the bottom of the dish, then top with a layer of pasta, a layer of ricotta, a layer of polpette and sausage, and a layer of parmigiano. continue thusly till you run out of ingredients. top with the mozzarella.
bake 1 hr and 15 mins. let rest 15-30 mins before serving.

09 March 2006

umm...

i've made some decent food lately. i'll have an assload of recipes to post here as soon as i get em typed up.

i'm even cooking tonight. some lovely clam chowdah cuz it's all icky and gray and fixing to rain, but my mind's not really on it, and my heart is certainly not in it.

my mom's in the hospital with a host of problems... supraventricular tachycardia, congestive heart failure, and a bedsore so heinous it's going to require surgery. she's been in a week, and none of those problems have been brought under control thus far.

back in january she had a heart attack, complete with cardiac arrest. she was having chest pains. they came and went. she had my dad take her to the emergency room, only to turn him around when they let up. they were back before they got there though, so my dad turned around and headed back to the e.r. she infarcted in triage.

what's scary is she looked a lot better the night she had the heart attack than she does right now. she's gotten much weaker and she looks like she's given up hope. i don't think she's had more than an hour of sleep in one stretch in the week she's been there.

i feel helpless in a way i didn't know was possible. i don't work outside the home, and there's only so much housework and laundry and errands to do in a day. i have way too much time on my hands to worry about her. i'd like to go upside the head of her doctor... not for what's going on with her heart, they're doing everything they can for her, and their options are somewhat limited by her poor health. it's that someone allegedly ordered an air mattress for her 4 days ago, for the bedsore, and it's yet to show up.

i don't have an m.d. but i do know she'd be better off if she could get some fucking sleep! i've bitched at the appropriate parties and NOTHING has changed.


if you, gentle reader, are the praying kind, say one for my mom? i know i don't *believe*, but she does.

01 March 2006

re: *cranking a blaster*

Freethinker said: Your blog should have "Smell-o-vision" installed ... but NOT for this post!
12:04 PM

yes, my blog SHOULD have smell-o-vision... but then y'all would have my weight problem too. i eat like royalty and have the figure to prove it. *lol*



Eden said: you should know I come and look at this photo a little too often
2:31 PM

umm... that's kinda scary Eden. i know your feelings about the shrub are similar to mine, and, well... i don't think i ever need to look at that pic again. not only cuz it's fairly obvious that chimpy is rippin a fluffy one, but because of the look on his cunty wife's face. i always suspected laura was a bitch, but when i first saw that pic, i knew the rigamarole about men wanting to marry mommy might be true.


i have something scary of my own to add, however. one night, after eating like royalty, i was sitting out on the porch with Wen'l having a smoke. needing to fart in the worst way. sooo... i did the guy thing and lifted an ass cheek and out it came!

that's not the scary part tho. the scary part is that i felt like i'd been cheated. that the whole lifting one side of one's ass trick was handed down from fathers to sons, and to hell with the daughters. somehow we had it in our heads that they were making a big production out of their flatulence, and we suffered needlessly in our ignorance.

last night i was having another smoke on the porch with Wen'l, and i said this: "if i ever had a daughter, i'd teach her the fart trick." and i would, just as soon as she was able to comprehend.